DavidH71 Posted December 20, 2022 Share Posted December 20, 2022 (edited) I purchased two of these Dayton Audio Subwoofers RSS390HE-22 https://www.daytonaudio.com/product/1804/rss390he-22-15-reference-series-high-excursion-subwoofer-2-2-ohm I wanted to update my current subwoofers I built over 20 years ago. I designed the cabinets using google sketchup , awesome program for designing speaker cabinets as you can verify/check all dimensions and fitting before any wood is cut , highly recommended and easy to learn. The cabinets are 240 litres tuned to around 17hz , 1010mm x 600mm x 598mm external dimensions. I glued the last panel last night for one of the cabinets , yet to start on the second cabinet. I will be purchasing some terminals today so I can wire it up tonight so I can verify the actual port tuning using my Dats V2 , then remove the driver and do lots of sanding , finally coating with Duratex , excellent speaker box coating , very durable and goes straight on to raw mdf , no sealing needed. I am very much looking forward to what these bad boys can do , the drivers are the most impressive drivers I have ever seen , very very heavy and built like a tank , 27mm xmax , triple magnets , dual spiders , 800wrms. Once finished I will be using MSO ( https://www.andyc.diy-audio-engineering.org/mso/html/index.html ) to set them up , I will post the results here. Edit: I have a Behringer NX6000 to drive them. Edited December 21, 2022 by DavidH71 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davewantsmoore Posted December 21, 2022 Share Posted December 21, 2022 nice bracing 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidH71 Posted December 21, 2022 Author Share Posted December 21, 2022 (edited) 16.82HZ is the final box tuning , 0.18hz off from my calculated 17HZ , pretty stoked about that. I don't have any SPL sweeps yet as i have removed the driver so I can sand and then coat with Duratex. I should have the SPL sweeps in a couple of weeks due to Xmas and new years and also the weather as I have to sand outside with no shelter. I am very happy with the outcome. Now I just need to start on the second cabinet. Edit: Just thought I would mention I used winisd to model this and used it's recommended port length for the 17hz tuning and as you can see it turned out correct. Edited December 21, 2022 by DavidH71 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawkeye Posted December 21, 2022 Share Posted December 21, 2022 23 hours ago, davewantsmoore said: nice bracing Appears to be dc powered 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawkeye Posted December 21, 2022 Share Posted December 21, 2022 I am also interested in this project and looking to add a sub to my diy system. Great craftsmanship David 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidH71 Posted December 21, 2022 Author Share Posted December 21, 2022 2 minutes ago, Hawkeye said: I am also interested in this project and looking to add a sub to my diy system. Great craftsmanship David Thanks mate , not bad for an amateur , it took hours to route out the braces , I did think about just using the jigsaw but using the router is neater. The key to any subwoofer is a very solid cabinet which means substantial bracing , you can never have too much. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ICUToo Posted December 22, 2022 Share Posted December 22, 2022 16 hours ago, DavidH71 said: Now I just need to start on the second cabinet. YEEEEEESSS Stereo subs FTW 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidH71 Posted December 22, 2022 Author Share Posted December 22, 2022 No mate they won't be stereo subs , they will be in opposite corners of the room , there is no point to stereo subs as there is very little stereo bass and also bass is omnidirectional , running more than one sub is to even out the room modes so you get a more even bass in the room. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davewantsmoore Posted December 22, 2022 Share Posted December 22, 2022 5 hours ago, DavidH71 said: there is no point to stereo subs as there is very little stereo bass and also bass is omnidirectional You can do neat phasing tricks with "stereo bass" .... but if it is on the recording is will basically play back differently on every system, so you almost certainly won't hear what was intended. Unless maybe they mixed it on headphones, and you listen to it on headphones. There is almost never actual stereo bass content on recordings. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidH71 Posted December 28, 2022 Author Share Posted December 28, 2022 Just finished one , now I just need to start on the second one. Haven't had a chance to listen at volume or do any SPL sweeps with REW yet as it's late here , I will do that tomorrow and report back. I'm very happy with the way it looks and turned out. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidH71 Posted December 28, 2022 Author Share Posted December 28, 2022 I'm listening too it now with music as I type this , sounds good , very tight and clean , I will need more time to evaluate and listen/watch some movies for some ULF but just with the REW sweeps I can tell I have more ULF than I had with my previous setup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidH71 Posted December 31, 2022 Author Share Posted December 31, 2022 (edited) New Years Eve , time to make this bad boy move , much much more impressive in person though. There is sound in the above video , top right corner of the video , you just need to turn it up , poor little phone mic couldn't handle the amount and volume of bass. Edited January 2, 2023 by DavidH71 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidH71 Posted January 1, 2023 Author Share Posted January 1, 2023 (edited) After my new years eve session I am very very impressed with this driver , no in room tuning ( no MSO and no second sub yet ) and they already sound very very good , extremely clean bass , so much so I could actually clearly make out the individual pulses of low frequency bass , I didn't realise my previous subs were blurring the low bass notes together as much as they were and the lower it goes the better it sounds but still has good mid bass , and their excursion has to be seen to be believed , my video just doesn't do it justice. They can also take a beating , I was giving it everything my NX6000 could provide , I could smell the enamel from the voice coils and the whole driver was quite warm to the touch (aluminium cone) , I had it at this volume for over 8 hours straight with no breaks and not once did I bottom out the cone , it took it like a champ , very impressed and can't wait now to get the second one done and tuned up with MSO but unfortunately it's summer time and currently it's damn hot , too hot for building cabinets so we will see , it may be a little while before I have the second completed which is very frustrating as I have plenty of time as I'm on holidays. Edited January 2, 2023 by DavidH71 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawkeye Posted January 2, 2023 Share Posted January 2, 2023 There’s nothing like the smell of burning enamel or rubber for that matter I hope your listening room is big enough to handle two of these beasts I hope the weather cools down for you. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRS Posted January 2, 2023 Share Posted January 2, 2023 Look great David!!! Can I ask what you finished them with. Is it spray paint a roller or paint brush? I will be at finishing stage soon on some busch horns and wondering if using a short nape roller will look OK. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidH71 Posted January 2, 2023 Author Share Posted January 2, 2023 (edited) https://cannonsound.com.au/collections/duratex/products/duratex-speaker-cabinet-texture-coating-roller-grade-quart-1-litre-quart-size-kit-black Using this roller https://cannonsound.com.au/collections/duratex/products/duratex-4-texture-roller-with-handle Very easy to apply , goes straight onto raw MDF (no sealant needed) , using the roller leaves a rough orange peel effect , I used it for my car subwoofer box as well and it's very robust , also hides imperfections well. I have seen others thin it out and sprayed it on as well. Edited January 2, 2023 by DavidH71 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRS Posted January 2, 2023 Share Posted January 2, 2023 49 minutes ago, DavidH71 said: https://cannonsound.com.au/collections/duratex/products/duratex-speaker-cabinet-texture-coating-roller-grade-quart-1-litre-quart-size-kit-black Using this roller https://cannonsound.com.au/collections/duratex/products/duratex-4-texture-roller-with-handle Very easy to apply , goes straight onto raw MDF (no sealant needed) , using the roller leaves a rough orange peel effect , I used it for my car subwoofer box as well and it's very robust , also hides imperfections well. I have seen others thin it out and sprayed it on as well. Thanks for that. I'll definately look into it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidH71 Posted January 2, 2023 Author Share Posted January 2, 2023 Someone else on the avsforum was suggesting some good tracks to try with my new sub ( also have my build log there ) and I just remembered my all time favourite subwoofer test track that I found back in 2000 on a compilation cd , not a lot of subwoofers can handle this at high volume but mine just sounded awesome and it's the cleanest I have ever heard the track , my windows complained a lot , very impressed , also surprised I found it on Tidal. Good for testing subwoofers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidH71 Posted January 3, 2023 Author Share Posted January 3, 2023 (edited) Finally had a break from the heat and spent all day routing today and managed to finish all the routing for the second cabinet , about too glue the 2 pieces for the double baffle , then on too gluing/assembling the cabinet , although it is heating up again in a few days , we will see how much I can get done in the next week or so. Edited January 3, 2023 by DavidH71 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janus77 Posted January 6, 2023 Share Posted January 6, 2023 Awesome build! Duratex is great stuff, can get such a nice consistent finish with it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidH71 Posted January 7, 2023 Author Share Posted January 7, 2023 The weather hasn't been too bad so I'm about 3/4 of the way through building the second cabinet , if all goes to plan I should have it finished in the next couple of days. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidH71 Posted January 11, 2023 Author Share Posted January 11, 2023 I have finished glueing up the second cabinet , just sanding and coating with Duratex to go , should be up and running by Friday , I will post my results after tuning up with MSO. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janus77 Posted January 11, 2023 Share Posted January 11, 2023 doof doof!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidH71 Posted January 13, 2023 Author Share Posted January 13, 2023 You wouldn't believe it , I have finished the second cabinet and it's up and running but I can't take any useful measurements to use MSO at the moment as there is a front end loader going and it's making a lot of noise , I think the people directly opposite me are getting an inground pool installed today , It's so damn frustrating as I have been working towards this moment for weeks , it's usually a quiet neighborhood and now I have to wait until it stops Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janus77 Posted January 13, 2023 Share Posted January 13, 2023 You could probably drown out the sound of the loader fairly easily. Turn the tables… just saying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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